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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| Ukraine's government falls apart | Ukraine's government falls apart |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Ukraine's ruling pro-Western coalition has officially collapsed, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament says. | Ukraine's ruling pro-Western coalition has officially collapsed, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament says. |
| President Viktor Yushchenko has been involved in a long-running dispute with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. | President Viktor Yushchenko has been involved in a long-running dispute with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. |
| The president's Our Ukraine bloc left the coalition earlier this month. Parliament now has 30 days to try to form a new ruling coalition. | The president's Our Ukraine bloc left the coalition earlier this month. Parliament now has 30 days to try to form a new ruling coalition. |
| If those efforts fail, Mr Yushchenko can dissolve parliament and call a snap election. | If those efforts fail, Mr Yushchenko can dissolve parliament and call a snap election. |
| The Our Ukraine party pulled out of the coalition on 3 September after the Tymoshenko Bloc sided with the pro-Moscow opposition Party of Regions to pass several laws that Mr Yushchenko saw as a threat to his presidential powers. | The Our Ukraine party pulled out of the coalition on 3 September after the Tymoshenko Bloc sided with the pro-Moscow opposition Party of Regions to pass several laws that Mr Yushchenko saw as a threat to his presidential powers. |
| "I officially declare the coalition of democratic forces... in Ukraine's parliament dissolved," parliament speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk announced on Tuesday. | "I officially declare the coalition of democratic forces... in Ukraine's parliament dissolved," parliament speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk announced on Tuesday. |
| "This has been long expected, but for me it is extremely sad," he told the chamber. | |
| "I would not call this a political apocalypse, though it is true that it is another challenge of democracy. I hope we can overcome it." | |
| Presidential vote | |
| Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned the fraudulent presidential election victory of a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovych. But since then the two former allies have become bitter rivals, vying for power ahead of the 2010 presidential election. | Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko led the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned the fraudulent presidential election victory of a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovych. But since then the two former allies have become bitter rivals, vying for power ahead of the 2010 presidential election. |
| Ms Tymoshenko leads the second largest group in the 450-seat assembly, after Mr Yanukovych's Party of the Regions. | |
| Ms Tymoshenko dismissed the breakdown as "a storm in a teacup". | |
| "Let me assure you that the government is going to work for a long time and successfully too, regardless of these storms," she said. | |
| Opposition leader Mr Yanukovych said any new coalition should include his Party of the Regions. | |
| "Any configuration leaving out the country's biggest political forces is doomed to fail," he said. | |
| Are you in Ukraine? What does the coalition's collapse mean for the country? Send us your comments by completing the form below. |